Six ships of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

have borne the name HMS ''America'': * English ship ''America'' (1650) was an armed merchantman in naval service between 1650 and 1654. * was a 44-gun

fifth rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a fifth rate was the second-smallest class of warships in a hierarchical system of six " ratings" based on size and firepower. Rating The rating system in the Royal N ...

launched in 1748. She was renamed HMS ''Boston'' in 1756 and was sold in 1757. * was a 60-gun

fourth rate In 1603 all English warships with a complement of fewer than 160 men were known as 'small ships'. In 1625/26 to establish pay rates for officers, a six-tier naval ship rating system was introduced.Winfield 2009 These small ships were divided ...

ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactics in the Age of Sail, naval tactic known as the line of battl ...

launched in 1757, and broken up in 1771. * was a 64-gun

third rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Rating When the rating system was f ...

ship of the line launched in 1777. She was stranded in 1800, salvaged and became a

prison ship A prison ship, is a current or former seagoing vessel that has been modified to become a place of substantive detention for convicts, prisoner of war, prisoners of war or civilian internees. Some prison ships were hulk (ship type), hulked. W ...

. She was lent to the Transport Board in 1804 and was broken up in 1807. * was a 74-gun third rate, previously the French ''America''. She was captured in 1794 and renamed HMS ''Impetueux'' in 1795. She was broken up in 1813. * was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line launched in 1810, and broken up in 1867.

See also